April 2010 Archives

Last Tuesday, April 20, I ran across an article that actually scared me. It ran on the bbc news site, which announced that "Texting has become the most popular form of communication among young people in the US, research indicates."

The article goes on to announce that, according to a Pew Internet and American Life Project study, texting has now eclipsed mobile phone calls among teenagers for the first time.

And this is what scared me: "More than 30% of teens send more than 100 texts a day, it shows."

Apparently, two-thirds of teenagers are now more likely to text their friends than call them on the phone, and girls on average send or receive more texts than boys - 80 messages per day compared to 30.

Amanda Lenhart, a co-author of the report shared that, "Texting is now the central hub of communication in the lives of teens today, and it has really skyrocketed in the last 18 months.

"The widespread availability of unlimited texting plans has transformed communication patterns of American teens.

"There is definitely an element of text messaging that fits so seamlessly into their lives."

The study's authors added that teenagers preferred texting to phone calls because it could be carried out under the noses of parents, teachers or other authority figures.

When it comes to talking to parents, however, the telephone still seems to be the preferred mode of communication.

Now, why does this strike me as scary?

For one, I was raised in an Internet-free Sweden mid-last century where virtually all communication was either in person or at least by voice over the phone. I mean, we didn't have television until 1962--some neighbors bought them as early as 1959 and these few daring souls soon found themselves "dropped in on" for various thin reasons come television time (which didn't begin in Sweden until late afternoon at that time).

For two, I have always been--and still am--an avid "live communication" fan, I like to see the person I talking to, as in by voice. I was wary of email when it first burst upon the scene, worried it might drive a digital wedge between people rather than improve relationships (I think it's done both).

And what worries me is that the more the Internet--and it's many, many tentacles--spread across the planet, the farther apart we may grow. Closer and faster digitally, farther apart truly.

The texting epidemic struck me as another digital wedge, good business on the surface, and apparently just the teenage ticket. But what does it do to live communication and relationships? I actually don't know at this point, but it has me concerned.

A Matt Cunningham article at SelfServiceWorld shed some very interesting light on spanning the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Unbeknownst to most of us--well, to me anyway--the World Bank's Innovation Fair, themed "Moving Beyond Conflict," took place in Cape Town, South Africa last week (April 12-14), and one of the projects presented to the members of the attending international community combines kiosk and self-service technology to meet the Digital Divide challenge.

This was the Rural Internet Kiosk (RIK) program, presented in conjunction with the BOSCO Uganda Relief Project. The proposal is for a system of self-contained Internet kiosks in locations throughout Sub-Saharan Continent.

The program states in its proposal, "The digital divide symbolizes the largest difference between developed and developing countries: the opportunity to obtain and utilize information. The real heart of the digital divide is that those without access to information resources often suffer needlessly while the solutions to their problems are floating in the air."

The kiosk itself is a self-contained weatherproof structure housing three industrial-grade computer terminals and a manned administrator panel. Solar arrays on the roof power the kiosk, and 12V DC hardware means that the RIK can function without any external power supply.

A satellite dish links the kiosk to the world.

In addition to providing Internet access through the built-in computers, the kiosks also provide wireless broadband Internet for the surrounding area.

Since these kiosks are power-independent, and satellite-based, they can be placed literally anywhere, and therein lies their true power.

In a 2007 pilot, BOSCO installed a RIK in a camp for Ugandan refugees from the 20-year war in the northern part of that country.

"These camps were developed with the intent to provide safety in numbers," reports BOSCO on its Web site, "but the conditions in these camps are inhumane, with no provision for food, water or communication without international aid.

"This technology is linking people to the outside world and is allowing them to articulate their own needs and find solutions to local community development problems."

The bottom line is that these RIKs will allow residents of developing countries to access information that the developed world often takes for granted.

California-based Inveneo, which supplies Web connectivity for projects such as RIKs, reported that a Web access deployment in Sierra Leone gave lenders the ability to more efficiently offer loans to entrepreneurs working to rebuild that country after its vicious civil war. Along a similar vein, Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development reports that pilot deployment of RIKs have increased local crop yields; farmers have been able to go online and learn more effective farming techniques.

The BOSCO Uganda Relief Project has obtained a license with the Ugandan government to deploy RIKs at 61 locations throughout the country. And both BOSCO and Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development are working to educate residents near RIKs on computer and Internet use.

Though communication technology cannot by itself solve the political and economic crises that plague this part of the world, the knowledge disseminated through RIKs can produce grass-roots solutions to these problems. One day, this ground-up approach could indeed bring more equality to Sub-Saharan Africa.

A wonderful approach.

More info at http://www.ruralinternetkiosks.com/

An article in the University of Idaho Argonaut chronicles a nice case history of digital divide bridging at work.

Eight years ago, the University of Idaho held a presentation called "Bridging the Digital Divide" addressing the goal of giving rural areas the same broadband access available to larger cities.

Today, this goal is realized through a $2.92 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

A broadband provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--a subset of President Barack Obama's stimulus package--allocated $7.4 billion to broadband in rural areas. The NTIA is one of the main entities funding the project.

"This grant will fund the building of a multi-user regional network connection across the counties of Latah, Nez Perce, Lewis, Idaho and Clearwater. Many areas in these counties have limited or no broadband services," said Mike Hall, area sales manager of First Step Internet in Moscow.

Hall continued to say that First Step Internet would now build a 200-megabit per second FCC-licensed microwave/fiber network, spanning five counties with fiber connections in Moscow and Lewiston. "Our license will be for a unique frequency, so there will be no interference."

The process of winning the $2.92 million grant began eight years ago with the University of Idaho presentation.

"That talk really challenged us and gave us a vision for getting those services out there," Hall said.

After that, First Step Internet teamed up with the Clearwater Economic Development Association who conducted a needs assessment showing a lack of broadband in Idaho County. They also worked with hospitals and businesses, and established a memorandum of understanding with the Nez Perce tribe to work together toward this common goal.

"When this opportunity (the grant) did come up, we were able to bring all the pieces together," Hall said.

The grant itself is $2.4 million, with the balance provided through matching funds. First Step Internet is putting up $500,000 while UI, Avista Corporation, CEDA and Idaho Regional Optical Network are among the others to match the last $100,000.

"The University of Idaho was pleased to provide a small amount of matching support toward this connectivity project," said Tania Thompson, UI media relations director.

UI matched about $5,000 toward the project.

Thompson said while there is no direct monetary benefit to the university, it does create opportunities for rural communities. "Plus, as Hall said, it gives access to residents to do remote education, such as online classes."

As for the rural communities, this project will increase broadband services to hospitals, businesses, homes, libraries, medical facilities, safety agencies and schools, potentially impacting 21,228 households over 13,125 square miles, according to a press release from First Step Internet.

"This is a great thing for First Step, and a great thing for the region," Hall said.

And great for me, living up here--though not so rurally--to see that the federal stimulus package is actually bearing digital fruit.

I read an Interesting article in Simply Zesty, a U.K. online magazine about PR and social media, that made what I found to be a very interesting claim the other day: "There is no doubt that if you are not computer literate, or more specifically social media literate, then you are getting left behind."

Getting left behind what?

The writer of the article--so I imagine--has accepted that the Internet and the online life is in fact the only life nowadays.

"The education system needs to update itself," the author goes on to say, "and realize that a necessary skill is not to memorize lines [or, I assume, to learn things] but to be able to research those lines online." Assuming, too, I take it, that in this utopian Web World there are never power outages, there are always a device, mobile or otherwise, near at hand, and there are no other skills needed than knowing how to navigate Facebook.

Well, I have yet to see a software--nor do I believe any is being developed as we speak--that can farm. No, I don't mean that can suggest how to, or analyze farming, but actually do it: the plowing, the sowing, the harvesting.

No software yet that cuts my tofu into tiny cubs and stir-fries my dinner.

No software yet that takes a nice long walk in the forest to then return and tell you all about it.

No software that can actually sing a true love song.

Getting left behind what?

It seems to me that the upcoming Web-savvy generation is about to make a terrible trade-off: life for bits and bytes.

Face-to-face for a screen.

The real for the fake.

Fakebook, indeed.